Shenandoah Valley Electric Cooperative continues to work to restore power in Page and Rockingham counties after strong winds and wildfires took down lines and caused service interruptions.
Efforts remain challenging due to limited access for repairs due to ongoing fires in the area as well as air quality issues for repair crews.
In Rockingham County, the Bergton area was the primary focus of SVEC’s restoration efforts. As of 11:30 a.m. today, service has been restored to the 90 members who had remained out in the area, according to SVEC.
One hundred outages remain in Page County; access to certain outage sites has been limited or unavailable as first responders respond to fires in the area.
As of 11:30 a.m. Friday, SVEC, its contracted crews and mutual aid assistance from other Virginia electric cooperatives are progressively gaining more access to assess damage from Wednesday’s strong winds.
An estimated time for restoration in these specific areas of Page County is pending as further assessment of damages takes place on Friday.
“I am extremely proud of the work done by everyone over the last two days. I have seen a great deal of cooperation and involvement from across the cooperative working together to assist our members,” said Greg Rogers, SVEC President and CEO. “As we head into another major day of restoring service due to this event, I want to remind our members that in working outages, we stay vigilant over safety.
“Our amazing crews have been working through difficult and tiring conditions this week, and in the process, they watch out for one another as they face what feels like new hazards when it comes to air quality and other challenges that have been prevalent in this event.”
SVEC will continue to monitor crews’ site-specific work on Friday under air-quality guidance provided by the Environmental Protection Agency and Virginia Department of Environmental Quality.
Members are advised to report SVEC outages at www.svec.coop/outage or call (800) 234-7832.
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Crystal Graham
